Lives in Cricket No 34 - Frank Mitchell

94 Sibley Snooke, Charlie Llewellyn, Sidney Pegler and Reggie Schwarz. One interesting selection was Claude Carter, nine years younger than Mitchell, who though South African born had played for Driffield in East Yorkshire. Whether Mitchell had ever played with him or against him is not known, but it is tempting to conclude that another player with East Yorkshire connections might have been of interest to Mitchell. The South Africans were at sea on the Balmoral Castle at the time of the demise of the Titanic, and that must have been chastening news for both team and crew. Having arrived in England, the players were able to settle down in the De Keyser’s Royal Hotel on London’s Victoria Embankment, a hotel which was for a while to be also Mitchell’s London address once the tour was over. The splendid hotel buildings were demolished in the 1920s to make way for Unilever House which still stands today at the northern end of Blackfriars Bridge. Some gentle games were played in late April to assist the team to acclimatise including one against Lionel Robinson’s team at Old Buckenham in Suffolk. Looking at the photograph on page 75 of the South Africans at that match, with Frank Mitchell wearing his boater and relaxing in a wicker chair, it is The 1912 Triangular Tournament This splendid front piece photograph taken by the renowned Hawkins & Co. of Brighton shows the burly captain, padded up and wearing an outsize sweater, posing in a rustic scene.